“EUREKA - THE ATTACK ON THE STOCKADE AND THE EVENTS LEADING TO IT" by Peter Butters Part 2: The Scobie Affair A reunion between friends with an unfortunate conclusion was the catalyst for trouble on the goldfields. Two recently reunited friends, James Scobie, in his late teens and his friend Peter Martin were returning to Eureka after an evening of celebrating their reunion. In the early hours of the morning they saw a light still burning in the Eureka hotel and began banging on the door, perhaps in the pursuit of more alcohol but the landlord, the unpopular ex-convict James Bentley refused them admission. An angry exchange ensued, threats were made and a pane of glass in the hotel was broken. The two lads meandered off towards Scobie's tent and then heard voices in the darkness behind them, whilst still only a few metres from the hotel. They were suddenly attacked, Martin was struck and ran off but when he realised that Scobie was not following he returned and found his friend either dead or dying as the result of a vicious blow to the head. The Melbourne 'Argus' reported 'MYSTERIOUS MURDER - The day before yesterday, between one or two o'clock in the morning a man was found murdered near the Eureka Hotel. There was a wound in his forehead as if made by the head of a tomahawk, or other blunt instrument; a bruise on the back of his head, as if from the fall, and another on the neck, as from a violent kick or other cause. Although a coroner's inquest has been held over the body very little seems to be known of the circumstances attending the occurrence. It was stated that the two men (deceased and his mate) were heard and seen about the hotel just before the murder was committed; that they were drunk and quarrelling; that a third man rushed up to them, and, after stunning his mate, beat the deceased so severely as to lead to his death. It is reported that the body is to be exhumed, and the inquest held over again. No robbery was committed, so that the whole sad affair is involved in the deepest mystery.' Suspicion immediately fell on Bentley, who was brought before a Coroner's inquest the following afternoon, but there were concerns about the conduct of the proceedings. The accused, Bentley, was allowed to cross examine Walshe, a young boy, who with his mother heard Bentley's voice from their tent, and the consensus of opinion was that the magistrates were endeavouring to mask the murder of a digger. The local newspaper of the era, the Ballarat Times had an advantage when compiling its report. 'A cold blooded murder was perpetrated on Friday night, the 7th instant, near the Eureka Hotel, but who the murderer is, has not yet been ascertained. The urbanity of Doctor Williams, Coroner, has put us in possession of the depositions taken at the Coroner's Inquest'. They added that there was 'no identification of the perpetrator of this diabolical crime contained in the depositions' as they began their report. Scobie and Martin were described as 'honest, hard working men, and both Scotchmen' as the paper gave a sympathetic account of their meeting and the tragic event. 'Scobie tapped at a window, Martin persuaded him to come away, and they were both accordingly a hundred yards on their way home, when they heard a noise as if men behind. Curious to ascertain what (in their innocence) could have been the matter, they turned back, and when they advanced a few paces, the first intimation they receive of the tumult, was a blow which knocked down and stunned Martin, who simultaneously heard a female voice saying 'this is the man (Scobie) who broke the window.' In about two minutes, Martin was on his legs, went over to a man, whom he saw stretched upon the ground - the man was his friend and his friend was a corpse! Mr Bentley, the landlord of the Eureka Hotel, when examined at the inquest, swore that no one went out of his house during all this time.' The barman, William Duncan, and Thomas Mooney, Bentley's nightwatchman all swore similar testimony. The report noted that for the re-hearing of the case the court was 'crowded to suffocation'. Messrs Dewes, Reid and Johnstone were the magistrates, Mr Lynn was the solicitor for the prosecution and Messrs Whipham and O'Cock were solicitors for the defence. Martin was the first witness called and he was followed by Edward John Davy, a storeman to Daniel O'Connell, who lived within ten or twenty metres of where Scobie was killed, who said, 'I heard a noise of two people close to the Eureka Hotel, on the night in question - heard two or three people coming from near the hotel, .... they stood for a few minutes close to my tent and then moved away in the direction of the other two, - I was in bed all this time - heard a blow struck with the fist, before and after the blow heard a man's voice - after the man was knocked down. I heard a noise as of a kick and the grating of teeth, and then a woman's voice exclaimed 'That's right!' The witness, Lawrence Welsh, was described as a 'very intelligent boy', ten years of age and the son of a miner. He remembered that on the night in question 'between one and two o'clock, I saw two men and a female close to our tent, - one of them picked up a spade, the spade I now hold in my hand, is the same, one of the men was stouter than the other - I believe that Mr Bentley and Mr Mooney were the two men. I know Bentley because I've seen him several times before, and live within a few yards of the Eureka Hotel. It was a clear moonlight night, one of the men said, 'Don't throw anything at them,' I heard also a female voice. A few minutes after , I heard a scuffle and a violent blow, - they separated, the parties returned and threw the spade at the opposite side of the tent, and heard them go to the Eureka Hotel - saw everything through the tent door, which was not let down that night. I stood for about three minutes at the door - could not notice the men's dress, their backs being turned towards me. The mother of that witness, Mary Anne Welsh was described as a 'very respectable looking woman'. She gave similar evidence and added that when she heard 'a tremendous blow given' a voice said 'How dare you break my window'. She believed the voice was that of Mrs Bentley. As she lived within a few metres of the back of the hotel she had previously heard her voice. Captain Evans said that Martin had told him that Bentley was one of the persons present and Dr. Stewart who undertook the post mortem said that death was caused by the blow. The charges against Duncan were dismissed. The counsel for the defence called George Bassar, who was a butcher opposite the hotel. He gave evidence that nobody came out of Bentley's hotel during the time in question, but had to admit that people could go in and out of the back of the hotel without him seeing them. Edward Gad, barman and manager of the bowling alley said that he was awoken by a noise at the front door, and Bentley who was in his bedroom gave orders not to open the door. 'I can positively swear that Mr & Mrs Bentley did not leave this bedroom from the time I heard the first noise, until Dr Carr came at the front door to say that a man had been killed outside, when Mr Bentley got upon his horse and rode to the Camp, to inform the police of the circumstance.' Digger Henry Green corroborated his evidence. The magistrates retired to an adjoining room for about half an hour to consult. Their worships returned and the police magistrate discharged the prisoners, and said that not a shadow of imputation remained on Mr Bentley's character. Not all on the goldfield were against James Bentley. In the Ballarat Times, immediately under the article on Scobie's murder appeared - 'To James F. Bentley, Esq., Proprietor of the Eureka Hotel. The Undersigned, Storekeepers, Diggers, and Inhabitants of Ballarat, duly appreciating the conduct and manner you have evinced in carrying on the Eureka Hotel, and feeling that you could not either directly or indirectly, in the late lamentable occurrence have been in any way accessory; hasten to express the pleasure and gratification we feel at the just judicial termination of the investigation of that unfortunate affair, and are assured that your urbanity and manly behaviour will still continue to guarantee to so well conducted a house, its full share of public patronage. Oct.13, 1851. Underneath appeared the names and occupations of over one hundred signatories with a note that they were to be continued in the edition of the following week. William Carroll, a digger and storekeeper later gave evidence that Bentley's hotel had a bad reputation, 'I can say I never knew so shamefully conducted a house. The worst characters lived about his place; midnight robberies were frequent, and life and property were not safe.' Archibald Carmichael, a digger and butcher who had a claim with Scobie, which was next to the claim worked by Lalor & Timothy Hayes , attended the Scobie inquest. He deposed: - 7th October 1854 at Eureka .... I am a digger and have a butcher shop near the Eureka hotel I was called up between one and two o'clock last night by the last witness Martin , he said he thought deceased was murdered I went to where deceased was lying I looked at him and said I thought he was gone, deceased was lying in a smooth open place within thirty yards of a tent and about sixty or seventy yards from the Eureka hotel. I went for Dr. Carr leaving the last witness with the body, no one was there when I first arrived on the spot, Dr Carr came back with me and we removed deceased to the Eureka hotel, the door was opened for us at once by two men I do not know.' The jury returned a verdict that Scobie met his death 'by a blow, but by whom it was given is at present unknown.' Peter Lalor was eminent, leading a deputation of dissatisfied diggers to Commissioner Rede in a quest to have the case re-opened. Peter Lalor, an inquest juror was one of the signatories to a letter submitted to the Ballarat Times which complained about the conduct of the inquest. Before its commencement Bentley conversed with the coroner. It was thought that Henry Green, one of the jurors was an inappropriate juror as he had been an inmate of the hotel on the night of the occurrence, and the coroner had lead the barman when he was giving his evidence. The coroner also allowed Bentley to cross examine and to a certain extent over-awe the boy Welsh whilst he was giving his evidence. When the young Welsh without hesitation stated that he heard the voices of Mr and Mrs Bentley outside the tent the coroner commented 'You imagine that you heard the voices of Mr and Mrs Bentley.' 'A juror' wrote to the paper regarding the conduct of the inquest that it should have been 'conducted in a much more strict and business like manner, with a view, of course, of eliciting the whole truth, as necessary to the nature of so serious and important a case - so far as the safety of the public, and the ends of justice are concerned.' The police were unpopular because of their demeanour towards the diggers, particularly with the despised 'digger hunts' for those who were unlicensed, and demeaned by the corruption of many of their numbers. The newspaper at the time recorded that the Officials at Ballarat were despised as being either corrupt or inefficient. One inexperienced trooper, Lord however added to the problems. Ministers of religion and their servants were exempt from the requirement of requiring a license but the inexperienced trooper was apparently unaware of this. Lord accosted the crippled Armenian servant of Father Smyth, Johannes Gregorious, for a licence whilst the servant was visiting a sick neighbour. Whilst Gregorious attempted to explain his position regarding the license Lord dismounted and assaulted the cripple. The debacle was increased when Assistant Commissioner Johnson, who was riding past also decided that the servant should have had a license. However, upon the arrival of Father Smyth Johnston accepted five pounds bail for the servant's appearance before the Bench the following day. The Bench imposed a five pound fine on Gregorious for non possession of a license. However, it would appear that Johnston realised that no license was in fact required and added to the already bad situation. He altered the charge to one of assault by the servant Gregorious on the trooper, Lord. Despite evidence to the contrary the magistrate D'Ewes found the servant guilty as charged and exacted a five pound fine, the corresponding amount of the bail. The Ballarat diggers were in disbelief with the occurrence, the Catholics united and the authorities were further alienated. The 12th October 1854 was the day on which James Bentley was brought before Commissioner Rede, Magistrate D'Ewes and Assistant Commissioner Johnston for a judicial enquiry as he was a suspect for Scobie's murder. Johnston dissented but on a majority vote it was found that Bentley had no case to answer, which was a decision that could only inflame the situation. Johnson however so believed that a miscarriage of justice had occurred that he forwarded a copy of the depositions to the Attorney General in Melbourne. The diggers believed that the result was corrupt and the Geelong Advertiser newspaper added to those sentiments when it reported that Bentley was seen in D'Ewes room during an adjournment in the case. The word of events at Ballarat was spreading and diggers at Bendigo held a meeting and supported their Ballarat counterparts. A digger wrote regarding conditions - 'October 14th 1854 - To the Editor of the Ballaarat Times- Sir, Permit me to call your attention to the miserable accommodation provided for the miner, who may have occasion to go to the Camp to take out a licence. Surely, with the thousands of pounds that have been expended in Government buildings, a little better accommodation might be afforded to the well disposed digger, who is willing to pay the odious tax demanded of him by the Government, and not be compelled to stand in the rain or sun, or treated as if the `distinguished government official' feared that the digger was a thing that would contaminate him by a closer proximity, so the `fellah' is kept by a wooden rail from approaching within a couple of yards of the tent. In consequence of so many persons mistaking the licence-office for the Commissioner's water closet (toilet), a placard has been placed over the door. I am, Sir, yours &c. FELLAH DIGGER, Who had to walk a few miles to pay away the money he had worked for, and was kept a few hours standing by a rail - not 'sitting on a rail, Mary.' The issue between Trooper Lord and the crippled Armenian servant was still a very contentious subject and after Mass on 15 October a meeting of all Catholics was called, no resolution being agreed upon other than to meet again the following Sunday. Agitation and ill will was still running high and a 'Monster Meeting' was called for 17 October at the place near Bentley's hotel where Scobie died. The meeting was to protest at the acquittal of Bentley and the corruption of the Magistrate, D'Ewes. As a result a committee of diggers was formed to seek the re-opening of the case. The 'Argus' correspondent summed up the situation - 'What with ill concealed discontent at the rigid enforcement of the license tax, and what with a variety of wrongs and cruelties unwittingly resulting therefrom, men's minds are now in such a state that they are almost ripe for anything. A public meeting is to be held tomorrow near the Eureka Hotel, to consider the late awful murder committed in that neighbourhood, to comment on the various evidence, and to take the sense of the diggers and storekeepers upon the management of the coroner's inquest, and the final decision which our bench of magistrates assumed the power of awarding.' In retrospect the correspondent had a prudent vision. 'It is thought that the meeting will be stormy in debate, and perhaps hasty and unwarranted in its excesses and conclusions. The police will be present in full force.' As a lawful solution was desired, the meeting on 17 October resolved 'That this meeting, not being satisfied with the manner in which the proceedings connected with the death of the late James Scobie have been conducted, either by the magistrates or by the coroner, pledges itself to use every lawful means to have the case brought before other and more competent authorities : and to effect this object do forward a petition embodying the facts of the case, for the consideration of the Lieutenant Governor.' Regarding the show of loyalty towards Bentley the meeting resolved, 'That this meeting views with mingled feelings of indignation and surprise the address in favour of Mr Bentley, which appeared in the 'Ballarat Times' of Saturday last, and begs to express its total dissent from the sentiments therein conveyed.' The meeting also deemed it necessary to collect subscriptions for the purpose of offering a reward for the conviction of the murderer or murderers and that a committee of seven members be appointed to carry out the views of the meeting. The committee included Peter Lalor, James Russell Thompson, and Thomas Wanliss. When a young boy threw a stone at the large lamp outside the front door of the hotel, which such buildings were required by law to have, the breaking of the glass combined with the feverish attitude of those gathered and the call to burn the hotel provided a fiery conclusion. As Rede had contemplated trouble he had arranged for the presence of the military but they were instructed not to intervene, and contrary to expectations the Riot Act was not read. The police unsuccessfully attempted to extinguish the flames whilst Bentley, in fear for his personal safety galloped towards the Camp.